Also new are magazines, purchased individually or by subscription, he said. Google has deals with publishers including Conde Nast and Hearst.

The changes help make Google Play a better alternative to Apple and Amazon alternatives. And if all goes to Google's plan, it'll make devices like its new Nexus Q streaming-media device something more than an electronic paperweight.

So far, Google Play -- formerly called the Android Market -- has been used to install 20 billion apps, he said. Paid apps are available in 132 countries, and free apps are in 190 countries, he said.

More than 50 percent of app revenue comes from in-app billing, he added, in which people purchase things like new game levels.

Coming to the app store are two features: app encryption, which will be available with Android 41 aka Jelly Bean, and smart app updates, in which only the parts of an app that changed arrive when an update is downloaded.

"On average, with the most popular apps we looked at, a smart APK [Android installation file] update is about one third the size of a new update," Yerga said, which saves network bandwidth and battery power. "It's a win for carriers, developers, and users. We handle it automatically. It's supported for Gingerbread [Android 2.3] and above."

About the author

Stephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and covers browsers, Web development, digital photography and new technology. In the past he has been CNET's beat reporter for Google, Yahoo, Linux, open-source software, servers and supercomputers. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces.
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